[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning. and welcome to 11 news sunday morning i'm jennifer franciotti. >> i'm lisa robinson. our top stories in just a moment. but first let's take a look outside with with our meteorologist avery johnson. >> yes. but we -- with our meteorologist ava marie.

>> but we don't have the cold weather. without the wind it makes a whole lot of difference. one storm is heading out to sea. that's the one that brought all the snow to new england. but look at thunderstorms possible in the south. a blizzard in the plains. all weaver mostly going to get is rain. there's a slight chance for freezing rain in the northern areas of the state. we're warming up to 30 at the airport. the forecast for today starting off with sunshine. clouds increase throughout the rest of the day with highs from 40-45 degrees. we do have that chance for rain tonight. only a slight chance for freezing rain. we'll detail that in your seven-day 23rk. >> digging out and restoring power is the priority in the area that got pounded by the blizzard. >> massachusetts was the

hardest hit. we get the latest from 11 news reporter jay gray in boston. >> the wind and snow has finally stopped. and across new england the focus has turned to what will be a difficult recovery. >> the state police and the national guard have been out in force and working in tandem. >> but these are the most important teams right now. crews working through brutal conditions to try and restore power to hundreds of thousands many still without any heat. >> we're working pretty hard. 16-hour shifts. in this weather, that's big. >> it's been tough to dig out many cars most abandoned at the height of the storm. across the region many of the roads have re-opened but are very messy and public transportation for the most part is still offline which means those that want to get around have to be a bit creative. >> going down the hill. trying to ski for the first time in my life. >> skis.

sleds. even a kayak helped some. but for longer trips, airports have re-opened but flight options are still very limited. of course for most here the journey isn't as much about distance as it is determination. the their destination getting back to where things were before the storm. jay gray, wbal-tv 11 news. >> here the storm spared us but a few utility crews are helping deal with the power outages up north. sarah sampson has that story. >> fighting wet, heavy snow and hurricane-strength winds, more than 6 ooh,000 people across new england were without power at the storm's peak. when most people were hunkering down, crews from bg&e were headed north. >> we had crews help out with the outages that they experienced up in the new

england area. >> massachusetts was the hardest hit. 400,000 customers were without power there. next was road island where about 180,000 people or a quarter of all households were in the dark. baltimore bg&e crews are working in connecticut where 38,000 customers are impacted. >> we know they are working in pretty snowy conditions and working around the comblock to get those customers back in service. >> there are several assistants that work up and down the coast. >> we will request crews from other states that weren't hit as hard as maryland and when other states are hit we want to make sure we can send some of our crews to help them as well, as long as it doesn't jeopardize our own system. >> and more drews could head north. forecasters are saying another storm is headed in that direction. >> once we see what that weather does we could possibly

send additional crews if they are requested. >> the only part of this storm system we felt was the wind. according to bg&e about 4,000 customers lost power because of it and by this morning nearly all those customers had their power restored. >> the chairman of the maryland republican party is resigning from his post. alex mooney announced it's time for him to pursue other ventures. mooney served two years as chairman and his resignation takes effect and first chairman diane will serve as the chair until the new chairman is elected. in the meantime a former maryland first lady could be jumping into the political scene. the wife of former governor bob ehrlich is expected to take part in a forum for candidates seeking to replace john leopold. she will join two others in the forum on thursday, february 14. now applications for the county

executive seat must be submitted to the county council by noon the fell toing day. the anne arundel county executive was found guilty of misconduct in office. the county council has 30 days to fill the seat with another republican and at last check no one had submitted an application for that. >> and president obama is expected to focus on job creation and economic growth in his state of the union address. still the struggling economy could force him to pursue second-term priorities such as gun control and climate change and announce the next steps towards leaving afghanistan. >> 9:07. 37 degrees at b.w.i. still ahead, five ways to help you better manage your finances. >> and no clear frontrunner at tonight's grammy eye wards, so who do critics expect to take home? >> and we will have a look at

the seven-day forecast which the seven-day forecast which does

>> good morning. we're starting you off with a live view from tower cam looking over the northern part of baltimore. it's currently 34 downtown and 30 at the airport. the winds are calm at this point the barometer showing a pressurizing to 307b948 inches. so that's good news. high pressure is building in the area that's the calm in between the next system that moves in. clouds should be returning later in the day. temperatures are on the chilly side. we started off in the 20's and now we're starting to warm to that higher mark. still in the low 20's across the western part of maryland including hancock at 23 degrees but this afternoon not really that bad except for some increasing clouds our highs

will reach into the low to mid 40's putting us back into the norm for this kind of year. the sun will set tonight at 5:38 in the evening hours. here's the next storm system you have to watch out for. already rain overspreading the ohio valley and a little bit of ice starting to overspread ohio and west virginia. this is all going to fall apart before reaching our area. now, already there have been some thunderstorms in parts of texas, louisiana. a severe threat for them out at this point and also the concern for a blizzard from nebraska to minnesota. as for this as it comes in our area, it's mainly just a rain event. there's only a slight chance for freezing rain. just at the onset i think there could be a little bit of ice showing up. not that you can see in the shadings of pink along the

pennsylvania line. so freezing rain is possible just at the onset and then this does just become a rain event as it continues to move on through the morning hours. so we basically dry out and sun headline breaks out. things continue to warm up. >> so increasing clouds. rain arrives late in the night especially after 3:00 a.m. but just at that onset there could be freezing rain in northern and western maryland with the pennsylvania area as well. rain through the early part of tomorrow then we do clear out as we go into the afternoon. depending on how much sunshine you get you could even get into the mid 50's later tomorrow. seven-day forecast shows us drying out on tuesday and drop down to a high of 47 and 4 the on wednesday and a chance for rain and snow. >> well, the music industry gathers in los angeles tonight to honor its top talents at the

grammy awards. definitely some notable names. not among the nominees but for the ones who are nominated, could be a great night. >> mark barger has the latest. >> the boy band one direction. canadian siren carly rae jepsen were two of the biggest new acts of the year but neither is up for the new artist award. >> that's a tough category. a field that includes r & b star frank ocean and hunter hayes -- ♪ want to make you feel wanted ♪ >> the pop group fun and the folk rock band loom near sincere deserving but he favors alabama shakes on the strength of their album "boys and girls." ♪ >> is one of these sort of immediate classics that when

you listen to it, it really harkens back to the 1970's where -- >> this was such a strong song on its lyrical qualities and look 59 all the different people that corpsed it. >> in contrast the record of the year is a tossup. lonely boy by the black keys. stronger by kelly clarkson. ♪ and "we are young" by the pop group fun, make up half the field. "somebody that i used to know" by gotye and "thinking about you" by frank ocean and "we are never getting back together" by taylor swift are also contenders. >> i can make a strong argument why any one of these should be record of the year. >> that and the inflame point staples add to the musician's

night. >> and our financial expert is here with tips when we come back. >> but first a look at some of the events going on around town .

>> welcome back, the time is 9: 18. how are you doing on your finances so far? pay checks certainly affected by the higher taxes. maybe the resolution to do better could be waning. here with advice, welcome. >> a lot of folks make that new year's resident thrution they are going to be doing better on their finances. it's february and already not so much. >> this is such a good to begin paying down personal debt. >> look at some of the things still sitting out on credit cards. start paying that downright away. >> we'll start with definitely reduce your debt. >> absolutely. >> debt is one of the things that keeps people from retiring and keeps people from being successful financially.

so debt is first. >> from your kohl's card to -- >> big department stores, car loans, anything that's not leveraged with property. >> so is right now a good time to think about refinancing? >> this may be the last time to take advantage of low interest rates? why? >> because interest rates have been held artificially low for so long. they can't stay where they are and when they bin to move back to a mohr normal range, 6% and 7% mortgages which sound like a good deal will be terrible because we have been spoiled by 3%. refinance if you can. may it down before you refinance. >> those that might be ray afraid of an appraisal? >> establish a savings.

so if folks don't have one or haven't been putting money in a savings account, do it? yes? where. put away some of what you get on every check. we tend to use 15% even though that's steep. >> take advantage of tax breaks. certainly right now a lot of folks are starting to do taxes. >> federally and in maryland you're seeing payroll taxes come back. it's a great time to make sure you take advantage of your employer's retirement plan because it will matter. >> and what if you don't know what the tax breaks are? >> you can ask your c.a. and your financial advisor and the combination of the two and your attorney. a lot of folks on that dream team, if you will. >> and depending on where you are in life you may or may not have an estate plan?

>> yes. they begin at a young age with a will and simple documents but estate planning becomes fundamentally important not in terms of leaving property behind but people to take advantage of taking care of you. >> t and please stay with us. coming up networks on 11 news john care yip and your sunday gardner. >> well, last week it was purple passion? well we've got another passion. valentine's day. so we still have to think about these gorgeous flowers that come into the red. >> valentine's day ideas coming

>> well, good morning and welcome to your sunday gardner. i'm john collins with our guest from valjee view farms. valentine's day is around the corner. >> i read that. >> things, gifts, just don't forget. we're going to giver you a little lead time. >> there's cool plans. of course there's miniature roses and roses that are great but these are alternatives. these are maybe not as pricey. but feel that leaf. the leaf and the flower assist velvety. these take the same type of care as african vilets. >> are they -- they need that indirect light. >> yes. this is anthurium also called flamingo flowers. the flowers are sort of heart

shaped anyway but they bloom on and on. >> it's bigger and reder. they also flow blooms. >> yes. and they can take down to low light so if you're taking them from a greenhouse just take them in stages. >> so they have that durability of fill den drun. >> yes. very similar to that. again, this is one of your favorite flowers. primroses are great. >> you like the contrast of these. these are cycleman? >> yes. these are great for a cool house. i keep it at low s -- low light. beautiful colors. i love the white ones just for the pure whiteness of it. it's really pretty. >> and this is a particularly

gracefull one. >> it's a calla lilly. you can find that in your summer garden. they can be planted after the frost is gone and they will do great most of the summer. >> and you can bring these in? or in this case you can put it out when summer conls along. >> yes. it goes down to the bulbs. as long as you would the way you would begonias and things like that? >> no. water when they are try to the touch. but again bright light will keep them from getting too tall. >> so what is this? a bomilliad? >> yes. we've had that plant in here for about a month. it started out as just a little bud at the bottom of that silver vase. >> i don't know if the camera

is catching this. water down in there. it's caught water down in the base. >> it does that naturally. you don't necessarily have to watt they're vase but these are typically up in the canopies of the trees not on the ground to say justly just >> with all these plans they go great for a year or so and then they send out a little pick up. if you cut that and plant it it will become your plant for the next year. >> do these then wither away? >> the mother plant does. there's a pick up. absolutely. >> there it is. >> so once that flower fades if you cut this out of there and plant it on its own then it will be next year's flower. so a pretty cool way to go. >> again, these are some colorfull ideas for valentine's day. >> there you go.

and of course you've got time. so go to your local place and go crazy, right? >> brings a little color to your house after owl. next on your sunday gardner, we'll see you then. >> and if you have a question for sunday gardner, just send it to sunday gardner or go to our website at www.wbaltv.com. right now 2 time is 9:28. 31 degrees on tv hill. our q&a is coming up next with senator ben cardin. >> and our next rain could come with a chill. >> and our countdown to valentine's day just a few days away. we're going to help you find the perfect gift for the person in your life. stay close.

>> and welcome back to 11 news sunday morning. thank you for joining us. >> let's take another look outside with affaira. >> you know, it's a little chilly right now but at least the windses have calmed down. we're starting off with sunshine and then the whole

mess moving to in the mississippi valley will move our way mainly with a chance of rain tonight into the morning. randallstown currently 27 degrees. the forecast for today after starting off with sunshine we will have clouds building. highs from 40-45 then we have the chance for rain tonight. maybe a little bit of freezing rain. we'll talk about that when we come back in the full forecast. >> what a sweet way to spend an evening surrounded by chocolate. last night guests were treated to a chocolate-inspired dinner prepared by chef gomez and the event raises money for a health care for the homeless which aims to get people off the streets and provide them with addiction services and social services and at the breakfast with a -- where ava was having

money raised for a tumor and whilal having surgery had meningitis and had to be put in a an induced coma. >> the money from the breakfast shoppe raised will help with her therapy. >> and back in october the breakfast shoppe teamed up with our tony pann to create a category three tony triple waffle pannwich.

>> time for our sunday morning q&a. joining us this morning senator ben cardin. thank you for coming in. >> my pleasure. >> it's going to be a big week in washington as the president delivers his state of the union address. he talked to the democrats this week in maryland about some of what he is going to talk about. >> absolutely. it's an incredible opportunity for the president to address not only the congress but the american people and indeed the international people, the need for us to move forward and not to impose any self-inflicted wounds and move our country forward and put our nation's interest first. >> and the middle class is something that's going to come up again? >> yes. the middle class has been the group of americans that have had the most difficulty over this recovery, and we have to make sure we protect job growth. >> he is also going to talk about immigration and something else he will move forward on

with you? >> yes. we now have ithe democrats and eight republicans moving forth with the immigration issue. >> immigration reform, and the one that's going to be really tough, stricter gun laws. do you think that's going to get anywhere? >> after the connecticut tragedy, what we should do is what's right. and we can do a better job with gun safety. these large amo clips and assault military-type weapons have no use on our streets. the president is going took about that and think about our children and safety and make sure that we protect the youth. >> where do you see your colleagues on this? >> it's a tough issue. we know that. the united states senate. we have two 12345r9s senators per state and the rural states will have a lot to say, and obviously it's been a difficult

issue in certain parts of this country. but i just hope we do what's right. hunter -- a hunter does not need an assault weapon. it's time to get these weapons off the street. >> so you think you will make some progress. >> there's no question that we will do everything we can to getthis >> so the president talked all about how to avoid sequest ration. >> they are across-the-board cuts. we say everything has the same priorities. that's not true. what we need to do is substitute these across the board cuts for something in particular. we have almost 6% of our workforce that works for the federal government and only 85

-- >> now that the president is in his second term, do you see an end or calming of these budget battles in washington or is it still going to be that tough fight? >> it's a new start. we hope the senate got off to a good start with some of our rules. we hope that we will see what americans want us to do. gridlock hasn't greats a sing -- we want to use this second term to work together and put our minds to work. >> you think boehner will cooperate? >> we have a tough time getting legislation through the house of representatives but i'm optimistic as we start a new year. we will hear the president on tuesday night. i thought he was inoperational

during his inaugural time. >> in the past years when proshe has delivered his state of the union address, you've seen quite frankly some rudeness when there were people booing him and saying different things. do you think there will be a different response and/4 rum? there? >> i certainly hope so. he is addressing the united states and the world. so i would hope the members of congress would be receptive. and that mayt -- so i hope the president will be received with the respect that he is entitled to and that we will take up his suggestions and answer the problems we have in our

community, putting american interests first. >> thank you so much for coming in. don't go away. first here's david gregory with a look at what's coming up on "meet the press." >> good morning, coming up, political battle lines are being drawn ahead of the president's state of the union address. republican eric accountantor and dick durbin. squaring off this morning. >> plus, our political round table. the debate over drones as part

>> the time now is 9:41. there's a live look right now of the inner harbor.

the sun is shining and the skies are blue. still struggling to get above the freezing mark at the airport. high pressure is building in. so we're in between storm systems at this point. we had some clear skies overnight that allowed the temperatures to drop down. we're up to 30 degrees in gaithersburg. westminster 24 and across the eastern shore many places trying to get closer to the freezing mark as well. we're going to see sunshine then clouds increase. our high temperatures get up to normal 40-45. winds at 5-10 miles per hour and the sun will set today at 5:38. thunderstorms to parts of the south including texas, arkansas and louisiana. then a lot of rain moving into the great lakes region and a little bit of ice on the eastern edge of this in ohio

and kentucky. then it's an all out blizzard from parts of the plains from nebraska to wisconsin it's a very large system impacting many people. we can see this on the future cast. after midnight question start to talk about those rain chances. but notice this pink shading. that's trying to indicate ice mainly in the form of freezing rain. so the onset of this system it could be cold enough on the surface and higher up in the atmosphere to produce some of that freezing rain. it's not a big threat. it's very brief and a very small area. most of this is just a rain event as we go through tomorrow morning and then clears out as we go through the afternoon. that will be helping the temperatures warm up as well. as for tonight, increasing clouds. the rain arrives late and at

the onset there could be a little ever -- the temperatures tonight do drop back into the mid 30's. some spots will be at or below the freezing mark. for tomorrow we start off with the rain early on then clearing into the afternoon and highs should be warming up into the low 50's tomorrow afternoon. if you get more sunshine you could get warmer than that. mild tomorrow starting off with the rain. dry on tuesday, a little cooler with breezy conditions and by wednesday another storm system that could bring rain or snow. we'll have to keep an eye on the temperatures. by thursday 43, breezy with winds. >> if you're stuck coming up with ideas for valentine's day rebecca klein comes to our rescue at towson town center guru.com. >> i've brought some of the

standouts. >> this is the until we love again -- >> i love you and miss you. >> you can record a special message for your special valentine. this could be a touchling gift from the grandparents. it's $19.99 with another purchase from hallmark. >> this is a gift set from the entire family from crate and barrel. this chocolate turns pink when you add water. >> i'm going to take a sip and try to dip. it's really pink. >> there we go. you can pair it with these festive mugs. >> not too chocolatey. perfect. >> moving on to a classic. these are from godiva, the handmade chocolate kiss strawberries.

they are so fresh that you have to eat one within 24 hours. you are encouraged to pre-order your six-box set. and these are from lush handmade cosmetics. it comes with five romantic items. that's a rose-scented body conditioner and then we have a lip tint that's shiney and pink and then we have a heart-shaped massage bar. also from lush. let's say you have an ex that you maybe want to have a little sweet revenge? >> let's make him disappear. >> he fizzes. >> you just then take a bath and -- >> you will have a nice vanilla scent. >> then you can pull the plug

and drain him away. >> now serious, serious sparkle. you can give her a diamond with your heart in it. this is from tiffany and-on-. this is the kind of luxury piece she will have and tiffany also has gifts at all different price ranges. this is the tiffany i love you heart at $150, so all sorts of price ranges. the guys, you can take him for a dinner at on they river and a special lobster tail entree from the 14th-16th. with limited veilibility. and if you dine then you can get a gift card to come back. at towson town center guru.com and find a chance to win a mall gift card. >> excellent.

lisa is in our sunday news brunch kitchen when we come back.

>> welcome back, everyone. time for sunday grinch. joining us today the executive chef at the royal harbor. what are you making for us at

this snow shower >> from our valentine's men knew, a fancier scalp with potato and saffron sauce. >> i'm going to be able to make this at home. >> sure. very easy. we started with the scalps. want to make sure it gets a nice golden seer on them. on thor side we have a mix of all them. a little bit of sauted spinach with shall lots and garlic and potatoes. i shredded a little bit of parsnip and potatoes together. added a little bit of salt and pepper and herbs and then you cook them up. parsnip has a nice sweetness to it. >> the problem with scallops is i always overcook them. what's the key?

>> i like to seer them on one side until they are nice and golden. i would seer them a little more on the one side and then take it out and let it sit for a second and it should be nice and medium. >> how do you know? >> just feeling them and i guess trial and romplete -- trial and error. i'm just going to pull them off to the side. >> how do you clean the scallops? >> you can clean them. you can buy them already cleaned. that's easier. so i'm going to start plating. i had the potato mixture i previously made and we have a little bit of spinach which we will put right on top of the potato.

>> this is from your valentine's men knew? >> yes. and we did oysters this morning and that was also from the valentine's menu. i know. so she doesn't get this. >> we take the scallops. we place one next to the other on top of the spinach. >> that looks really lovely. >> the little vegetables. if you want to copy today's web site you can send a self- -addressed stamped novep us. there it is. >> that's cooked with pan fried and added a little bit of truffle salt. >> who knew? ok. is that a little piece of water medical season?

>> tomato. >> see? i thought -- all right. that looks lovely. >> royal next to the harbor court. tay with us

>> one last look at the weather. 43. increasing sun. rain possible tonight. just the northern counties could see a little bit of freezing rain. it will be wet on your way to work tomorrow morning. >> and once again, here is our finished product. at the harbor court. lovely. thank you so much for coming in jose. >> that is insta- gram worthy. >> it is. >> i'm just going to dig in. i know you're dying to.

>> the way to my heart is through scall will ops. >> well, he can take you out. >> this is a valentine's meal. >> we will have this going from the 14, 15 and 16 all the way through saturday. >> dessert >> tell us about that. >> we want to keep it a surprise. >> thank you so much. thank you-all for watching this morning. nbc's "meet the press" is next. have a great day.

>> the ravens victory celebration was an amazing sight as thousands of fans flocked downtown to see the nfl world champions and welcome them home. players raised the lombardi trophy and fans cheered the team from city hall to m & t bank stadium. some camped out for a good spot on the parade route. others packed the stadium for hours basking in the glory of victory. it was an incredible run with ups and downs but the team and the fans persevered and the dream came true. ray lewis said goodbye and did his final squirrel dance. for all of maryland their memories will last a lifetime. there's no doubt conversations about the epic season will be ongoing. looking ahead, wbal-tv 11 will bring you the regular season

opener on thursday night featuring the world championship home team. saver the mem